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Allen County, Indiana Genealogy
Allen County, Indiana Cemeteries
Prairie Cemeteries
Allen County does not have a prairie cemetery nature preserve with native plant remanants. It does have a cemetery named Prairie Grove Cemetery which implies that area was originally a prairie when the European settlers came to Allen County. See Prairies in Allen County. Allen County does have the Lindenwood Nature Preserve west of Lindenwood Cemetery across Lindenwood Avenue which likely shows how Allen County may have looked as the original woodland habitat of that time. Allen County nature preserves have links on the Plants pages. A few counties in Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio do have Prairie Cemeteires with remnant native plants showing how the area looked when the pioneers arrived, died, and were buried with a few shown on this page. These cemeteries have examples of what native plants existed in Allen County when pioneer settlers arrived in the land of the Native Americans.
Indiana Prairie Cemeteries
In Indiana, prairies made up about 15 percent of the area, primarily in northwest and west-central portions of the state.
September 25, 2023 post by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources on Facebook:
NATURAL COMMUNITIES IN INDIANA: Our next natural community type this week is prairies! In the early- to mid-1800’s when settlers moved into western and northwestern Indiana following the removal of Native Americans, they encountered thousands of square miles of rolling prairie. Natural disturbance forces like fire, drought, and grazing from bison favored species like prairie dock, big and little bluestem grass, rattlesnake master, and many other hardy plants with deep roots. Some of the last remaining prairie remnants are areas never turned over by a plow: along old railroad tracks like at Spinn Prairie Nature Preserve and pioneer cemeteries like Smith Cemetery Nature Preserve.
Learn more about Indiana nature preserves at Nature Preserves.
Top photo: Hoosier prairie. Bottom left photo: Blazing Star in an unprotected railroad prairie. Bottom center photo: Culver's root. Bottom right photo: Michigan lily in an unprotected railroad prairie
- Links to a Legacy... Prairie Cemeteries Lee Casebere Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society Volume 6 Number 2 Summer 1999 quarterly newsletter.
- Smith Cemetery Nature Preserve INDNR
- Smith Cemetery: After a Fire August 8, 2013 Taylorsj blog.
- Smith Cemetery Perrysville, Vermillion County, Indiana on Find A Grave lists 181 memorials
- Smith Cemetery list of names Vermillion County Genealogy INGenWeb
- You Won't Believe The Butterflies and Wildflowers at This Western Indiana Prairie By Marilyn Culler on Aug. 08, 2018 Visit Indiana.
- Tallgrass Prairie: Remnants of an Earlier Age September 22, 2020 Central Indiana Land Trust
- A lively discussion of the Rogersville Cemetery Prairie Nature Preserve in Henry County discussion July 31, 2024 on Indiana Cemeteries on Facebook with pro and con comments some from descendants of families buried in Cemetery Nature Preserves.
- Nature Preserves by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources lists White Oak Cemetery Nature Preserve in Jay County in addition to Smith Cemetery.
- German Methodist Cemetery Prairie in Lake County is one of the best black soil prairie remnants in Indiana with over 200 species of native plants. A Nature Conservancy preserve.
Smith Pioneer Cemetery Prairie Nature Preserve, south of Perrysville, Vermillion County, Indiana.
High quality prairie is as rare in Indiana as it is in Illinois, perhaps even more rare. Along my travel route this...
Posted by Illinois Botanizer on Friday, July 20, 2018Friday, July 20, 2018 post by the Illinois Botanizer on Facebook:
High quality prairie is as rare in Indiana as it is in Illinois, perhaps even more rare. Along my travel route this week I looked for natural areas to visit and found Smith Pioneer Cemetery Prairie Nature Preserve, located along Highway 63 south of Perrysville, IN and surrounded by corn fields. This cemetery was established in the 1820s and has a number of old gravestones mixed in with the high-quality prairie plants. Especially remarkable is the royal catchfly (Silene regia), of which naturally occurring populations in Illinois are extremely rare. Check out these photos from my visit!
A little video I put together from our recent visit to Smith Prairie Cemetery Nature Preserve, Vermillion County Indiana. Video quality may be degraded thanks to FB. Song is Cemetry Gates by the Smiths.
Posted by Marty L. Jones on Sunday, August 11, 2019Sunday, August 11, 2019 post by Marty L. Jones on Facebook won't show on this page, but is worth clicking to watch on Facebook.
A little video I put together from our recent visit to Smith Prairie Cemetery Nature Preserve, Vermillion County Indiana. Video quality may be degraded thanks to FB. Song is Cemetry Gates by the Smiths.
Cemetry Gates on Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
Song The Smiths - Cemetry Gates (Official Audio) December 14, 2018 The Smiths on YouTube.
As National Poetry Month winds down, here's another contribution from our board member, John Bacone, with poem by Pamela Hazer. #NationalPoetryMonth
Posted by Central Indiana Land Trust on Tuesday, April 29, 2025Tuesday, April 29, 2025 post by the Central Indiana Land Trust on Facebook:
As National Poetry Month winds down, here's another contribution from our board member, John Bacone, with poem by Pamela Hazer.
Smith Cemetery Nature Preserve: A Prairie Remnant John Bacone, April 29, 2025.
Our board secretary, John Bacone, was director of the DNR Division of Nature Preserves for 40 years. He offers this historical view of one of Indiana’s last remaining prairie remnants.
In presettlement times, much of northwest and west-central Indiana was covered by prairie vegetation. The vast prairie was soon converted to agricultural fields. The only remaining prairie can be found in some railroad rights-of-way and occasionally in old pioneer cemeteries that were set aside prior to the agricultural conversion. Dr. Robert Betz, a professor at Northeastern Illinois University, had spent years looking for cemetery prairies, both in Illinois and northwest Indiana, and he provided the Indiana Division of Nature Preserves (DNP) with his findings.
Illinois Prairie Cemeteries. The prairies covered 61 per cent or 21.6 million acres of land in what is present day Illinois. All but nine of the present counties contained some portion of prairie. Illinois land, however, was not all grassland. TALLGRASS PRAIRIE 2014 Eco-Meet
In pioneer cemeteries, a disappearing part of Illinois' landsc...Illinois once had 22 million acres of tall-grass prairie. Today, only 2,300 acres remain. Some of the most pristine examples have been preserved in an unlikely place — small pioneer cemeteries often hidden amid forgotten fields across the Prairie State: http://trib.in/2wsJ2if
Posted by Chicago Tribune on Friday, August 4, 2017Friday, August 4, 2017 video post by the Chicago Tribune on Facebook:
Illinois once had 22 million acres of tall-grass prairie. Today, only 2,300 acres remain.
Some of the most pristine examples have been preserved in an unlikely place — small pioneer cemeteries often hidden amid forgotten fields across the Prairie State: In pioneer cemeteries, a disappearing part of Illinois' landscape lives on
[ Archived on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine ]
Ohio Prairie Cemetery
🌻Celebrating National Prairie Day – Darby Plains preserves What better way to celebrate National Prairie Day than by...
Posted by Ohio Division of Natural Areas and Preserves on Saturday, June 1, 2024Saturday, June 1, 2024 post by the Ohio Division of Natural Areas and Preserves on Facebook:
Celebrating National Prairie Day – Darby Plains preserves
What better way to celebrate National Prairie Day than by spotlighting two central Ohio preserves that may be small in size but loom large in wildflower beauty!
Bigelow Cemetery and Smith Cemetery state nature preserves protect natural and cultural history. Not only as final resting places for early Ohio pioneers, but as remnants of the rich prairie habitat that once covered a portion of west central Ohio.
Both preserves are a joy to wander through, whether you’re interested in the array of summer wildflowers (mid- to late July is the best time to visit) or are fascinated by the family history captured on the headstones they left behind.
A special shout-out to Bigelow because it harbors Ohio’s largest population for the state-threatened royal catchfly (Silene regia). This stunning scarlet flower is a favorite of the red-throated hummingbird. Its flowers bloom in late July- plenty of time to plan an excursion to these prairie preserves.
Fun fact: Did you know that 1 acre of prairie can absorb up to 1 ton of carbon from the atmosphere? Prairies are rich ecosystems, vital for water quality, soil health, drought protection, pollinators, and natural beauty.
To learn more, visit naturalareas.ohiodnr.gov.
🥾Trail Tuesday – Cemetery Prairies July is the perfect month to discover two of the prettiest prairie remnants of the...
Posted by Ohio Division of Natural Areas and Preserves on Tuesday, July 8, 2025Tuesday, July 8, 2025 post by Ohio Division of Natural Areas and Preserves on Facebook:
Trail Tuesday – Cemetery Prairies
July is the perfect month to discover two of the prettiest prairie remnants of the
The Darby Plains landscape was considered worthless by early European settlers. The grasslands were too wet to plow in spring and by late summer, the soil was baked dry. Called “barrens,” they were some of the last lands to be settled in west-central Ohio. Because of their use as pioneer cemeteries, Smith and Bigelow prairies remained untouched from being drained, tiled, or plowed.
To learn more Bigelow and Smith Cemetery state nature preserves, visit naturalareas.ohiodnr.gov
